Mali

A Wedding Party Hit By French Forces in Mali Killed Mostly Civilians, UN Report Says

March 31, 2021

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — From above, the photographs show a stretch of charred land in the middle of the desert and a mass grave covered in dried tree branches, where people living around Bounti, a village in central Mali, said those who had been killed by French airstrikes were buried. On the ground were …

Africa, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council

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The UN’s Mission in Mali: A Deadly Fight Against Terrorists

January 18, 2015

by Dulcie Leimbach

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, the most demanding and bloodiest operation in the organization’s global portfolio, is moving its major functions from its base in Bamako, the capital, to Gao, a remote city also on the Niger River, and other camps in the north. The goal is to keep a vigilant eye …

Africa, Libya, Peace and Security, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations

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The US-African Leaders Summit in Washington Leaves Malians Blasé

August 3, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

BAMAKO, Mali — As the first United States-African leaders summit opens this week in Washington, D.C, it is hard to hear Malians in their capital drum up enthusiasm for it. President Barack Obama has invited 50 African heads of state — excluding those from Central African Republic, Eritrea, Sudan and Zimbabwe — to meet …

Africa, Development, Governance, UN Peacekeeping, Women

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A Rape Accusation in Northern Mali and the UN’s Awkward Response

January 28, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

Now that Gao, a remote but critical outpost in northern Mali, has become a hub of military personnel — Mali Army, French troops and UN peacekeepers — to fend off terrorist incursions, it is also a simmering spot for sexual assaults and intimidation of women who live there. These acts are committed in the …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights, Women

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A Transition in Sight for Mali

April 9, 2012

by Joe Penney

BAMAKO, Mali — The junta that upended the country here on March 22 has agreed to hand over power to Dioncounda Traore, the president of the National Assembly, in the next few days. Mali was set to hold a presidential election on April 29 before a junior military officer and his entourage ousted the …